This invention relates generally to remedial bacterial systems and more particularly to a remedial bacterial system in a constructed mat including ensiliaged material.
Naturally-occurring microbial mats, composed of stratified layers of cyanobacteria and bacteria, evolved in primordial times, occupying the most inhospitable environments on earth.
More recently, mixed microbial mats, stimulated by ensiled grass clippings, were developed as an alternative fish feed. Such mats have been effective in sequestering heavy metals from contaminated water and in reducing certain metalloids to the elemental form. These first mats were cultured by simply adding ensiled grass to laboratory trays and inoculating with Oscillatoria or Anabaena. All other microbes were allowed to volunteer from the water and soil medium. No attempt was made to control the microbial colonization or to specify the types of microbes that might integrate into the mat.